Marceline, Missouri, exits its contract with Prairie State coal plant

MARCELINE, MO — Last night, August 20, 2013, the Marceline City Council voted unanimously to approve a deal with the Missouri Joint Municipal Electric Utility Commission (MJMEUC) to exit its contract for 4MW of electricity from the Prairie State Energy Campus. In the deal, the Missouri Public Energy Pool (MoPEP), which already has a contract with Prairie State, will purchase Marceline’s 4MW. Marceline will pay $22,000 a month for the next 45 months, saving Marceline an estimated $6 million over 5 years. Attached is the formal statement by Marceline city manager, Luke Lewis.

Peabody Energy, the world’s largest private-sector coal company, conceive of the Prairie State Energy Campus, and then sold off 95% of the plant to hundreds of towns and cities across the Midwest. Peabody and other entities involved in Prairie State are under investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission.

In response to this announcement, Jeff Ordower, executive director of Missourians Organizing for Reform and Empowerment (MORE) released the following statement:

“Marceline’s officials did the right thing to protect ratepayers, by taking the lead to get out from the Prairie State ‘toxic asset.’ Now we know that towns and cities led by diligent managers and elected officials can lessen their burden from this terrible deal when they put their minds to it. We believe other communities should take a close look to see what the Prairie State deal is costing them, and determine whether they too should get out. Why should Missouri ratepayers be stuck with paying the costs for Peabody’s plant that has proven itself expensive and unreliable?”

Missourians Organizing for Reform and Empowerment (MORE) is an economic and environmental justice organization based in St. Louis. MORE has been working with Missouri cities and towns bought into the Prairie State Energy Campus to find just solutions for those affected and to hold Peabody Energy
accountable.